A Gentle Hand - for Free

I am frequently amazed at how vociferous some folks can be in pointing out the political faults of a person or ideal, whether real or imagined. In their line of reasoning, they have dispensed a measure of warning - done their duty - which ostensibly is a public service and helpful to others, but it really isn't so much. Simply cutting another person or ideal to shreds often doesn't accomplish a whole lot of good. In extreme cases, it only serves to consume their own personality.

When our former president was in office, there were folks who did everything they could to depict how evil and awful he was. I won't debate or dispute this because that is not my purpose here and now just a few years later, I see the same kind of people - just on the other side but just as powerfully the same. Rather than offering solutions or constructive criticisms, they often simply offer fear-mongering, ridicule, debasement and character attacks. This sort of vitriol brandishing never seems to do very much to change the world in a positive way.

It is reminiscent of some of the hawkers of religion I used to see on the downtown streets of Pittsburgh -- for years preaching the gospel of hell-fire, consternation and death to anyone who would listen. The trouble was, I think few people ever listened, and even fewer changed by it.

Whether it is in social media like Facebook, Livejournal or in person, truly it seems that to have any hope of significantly changing lives around you, the best person to change is yourself and to live your life with a gentle hand as a demonstration of such.